NYPA CEO Cites Benefits of New Clean Energy and Transmission Improvements for Electric Power System and Jobs:  Remarks by Richard Kessel at Advanced Energy 2010 Conference in NYC

Contact:
Michael Saltzman
(914) 390-8181
Michael.saltzman@nypa.gov 

November 9, 2010

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW YORK—At an energy conference in New York City on Monday, New York Power Authority (NYPA) President Richard M. Kessel cited the importance of clean energy development and transmission upgrades for ensuring a reliable electric power system and creating new construction and manufacturing jobs in New York State.

“We ought to dedicate ourselves to making 2011 the year of the ‘green’ job,” Kessel stated, in citing the significant economic development benefits of renewable energy technologies for growing jobs and contributing to the state’s manufacturing base.   

“The addition of new wind and solar power installations and transmission upgrades to replace aging infrastructure with facilities that use ‘smart grid’ technologies are among the necessary strategies for reliably meeting electricity demand in New York in the coming decades,” Kessel said. “These are hallmarks of Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo’s ‘Power NY’ energy plan, which will provide great benefits for New York State. In addition to diversifying energy supplies and combating greenhouse gas emissions, clean energy makes great sense from an economic development perspective since investment in new labor-intensive energy technologies has the potential for creating thousands of jobs at hundreds of businesses interested in fabricating parts and components.”

The NYPA chief executive spoke as a panelist and luncheon speaker at the Advanced Energy 2010 Conference at the New York Hilton in New York City, where he and other energy leaders highlighted the importance of collaborative efforts by businesses, government and academia for furthering energy research and commercializing new technologies. The Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center (AERTC) at Stony Brook, whose mission is to promote innovative energy research, education and technology deployment, produced the Nov. 8-9 conference, marking the fourth year the event has been held.  The Power Authority is one of the sponsors and also has provided key financial support for the energy center, whose focus includes energy efficiency, renewable energy and nanotechnology applications.

Kessel said that NYPA expects to select proposals from renewable energy developers by early next year for a statewide 100-megawatt (mw) solar power project that would triple the current amount of installed photovoltaic (PV) capacity in the state.  And it also expects to select from proposals next year for an up-to 500-mw offshore wind project in the Great Lakes for the possible development of the nation’s first freshwater wind farm.  

The two ambitious clean energy projects, for which the Power Authority received proposals following its solicitation of bids, further cements the statewide public power utility’s reputation as one of the cleanest, large power producers in the country. Nearly 80 percent of the electricity that NYPA generates comes from nonpolluting hydropower.  It also invests heavily in energy efficiency initiatives at public facilities throughout the state, cutting greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 800,000 tons a year, while providing annual savings on utility bills of approximately $125 million. 

For this year alone, NYPA has financed approximately $145 million in improvements, working closely with various energy efficiency contractors, including New York companies. It expects to invest more than $1 billion over the next several years in such efforts in support of New York’s “45 by 15” Plan for 45 percent of the state’s electricity needs to be met from improved energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy by the year 2015.   

Kessel also noted at the Advanced Energy Conference that NYPA has been exploring the potential for improving the capability and flexibility of the state’s transmission system to deliver lower cost hydropower from Canada and upstate wind power. 

“We have a Thruway but not an ‘electric thruway.’  We need to break up transmission congestion points to secure a clean energy future.  Some of New York State’s transmission lines are 50 to 60 years old and need to be replaced. Investment in new energy infrastructure is crucial for meeting the power needs of a 21st century economy,” Kessel said. 

“Energy, the environment and economic development—what I call the ‘three Es’—are all intertwined,” Kessel added. In citing the Power Authority’s progress toward furthering the development of new clean energy supplies, he also noted the emphasis that the statewide public power utility has given to utilizing its renewable low-cost hydropower for creating new jobs, including those in high-tech and ‘green’ energy industries. 

An allocation from the Niagara Power Project, for example, was directly responsible for the opening by Yahoo! in September of a new data center in the Town of Lockport in Niagara County, and NYPA is hoping for similar results from an allocation that its Board of Trustees approved last month for a proposed data center by Verizon Communications in the Town of Somerset, also in Niagara County.  Kessel also cited NYPA’s use of hydropower from its St. Lawrence-Franklin D. Roosevelt Power Project in Massena for the reopening next year by  Florelle Tissue Corp. of a paper mill in Brownville, Jefferson County.

“We need to utilize lower-cost energy resources to create jobs, especially in regions upstate that have suffered the most economically, and that’s what we’re doing with our clean hydropower,” Kessel said.         

Since Kessel became the Power Authority’s CEO in October 2008, NYPA has undertaken lower-cost power allocations and other measures that have helped to preserve or create some 7,200 jobs across the state, and spur millions of dollars in capital investments.  The lower-cost power programs that NYPA administers are linked to about 385,000 jobs, in total, at some 800 businesses and not-for-profit employers statewide. 

About NYPA
NYPA is the nation's largest state public power organization, through the operation of its 16 generating facilities and more than 1,400 circuit-miles of transmission lines. NYPA uses no tax money or state credit. It finances its operations through the sale of bonds and revenues earned in large part through sales of electricity. More than 70 percent of the electricity NYPA produces is clean renewable hydropower. Follow @NYPAenergy on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, WordPress, YouTube, and LinkedIn.